Optimising Pre-Season Training Loads in Australian Football

Purpose: To investigate whether preseason training plans for Australian football can be computer generated using current training-load guidelines to optimize injury-risk reduction and performance improvement. Methods: A constrained optimization problem was defined for daily total and sprint distance, using the preseason schedule of an elite Australian football team as a template. Maximizing total training volume and maximizing Banister-model-projected performance were both considered optimization objectives. Cumulative workload and acute:chronic workload-ratio constraints were placed on training programs to reflect current guidelines on relative and absolute training loads for injury-risk reduction. Optimization software was then used to generate preseason training plans. Results: The optimization framework was able to generate training plans that satisfied relative and absolute workload constraints. Increasing the off-season chronic training loads enabled the optimization algorithm to prescribe higher am...